Dam.



Patented July 9, l90l. J, F. GLlDDEN.

DAM p (Application filad Nov. 15, 1900. r v

. 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

No. a7a,|o5.

(No Model.)

Patentod July 9, l90l.

J. F. Gunman.

DAM.

(Application filed Nov. 15, 1900.)

2 Shea.ts$haet 2.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI CE.

JOSEPH F. GLIDDEN, OF DEKALB, ILLINOIS.

DAM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 678,105, dated July 9,1901. Application filed November 15,1900. Serial No. 36,619. (No model.)

ical construction of the class specified in which the economical featureis secured principally through the utilization of certain wastematerials as the chief element in the construction thereof, ashereinafter specified.

My invention in its structural characteristics combines the use of bothmasonryand metal, and for the latter I contemplatethe employment of thewaste ends of wires found in the refuse and scrap heaps of wire-millsand wire-implement-making factories. amount of short scrap-wire rejectedby such mills and factories as unavailable for any manufacturingpurposes, and consequently consigned to the scrap heap, is veryconsiderable, and I have found that such short waste ends of wire tiedup in bundles of suitable size for convenient handling--say from six totwelve inches in diameterare excellently adapted when properly laid toform a main bed or body of a dam construction, such bun= dles beingpiled closely together in a compact mass across the stream.

The improved method and construction. of dam forming the subject of mypresentinvention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a plan View of a dam built in accordance with my invention,and Fig. 2 is a View of the same in vertical transverse section.

my invention I employ as the principal building agent bundles ofscrap-wire A,-which, as above stated, may be the tailings or refuse fromwire-drawing or wire-implemeht-making mills and factories. These bundlesof short wire are piled together in a thick compact mass across the bedof the stream 13, the wires all being laid in a direction longitudinallyof the current. The width and height The In constructing a dam inaccordance with constructed will have a gradual slope on itspressure-resistin g side from its top to the bed of the stream, and thissloping face of the dam will preferably be provided with a top coveringof cement or earth, or both, as indicated at D and E. By reason of thefact that the ends of the wire, where refuse or scrap wire is employed,are more or less bent over in, hook form, the bundles when piled andpressed closely together become anchored to each other and form anextremely compact and tenacious mass almostimpossible of separation byany pressure that may be brought against it.

A dam constructed as described has been found in practice to possess ahigh degree of efficiency, especially as applied to small streams,and inview of the fact that the scrapwire can be secured from the mills andfactories at a merely nominal cost, while the other materials employedin the construction of the dam may usually be found close at hand atlittle or no expense, the entire cost as regards materials used isobviously a minimum.

I do not limit myself to the use of waste or scrap wire, as new wire mayof course be employed where the former cannot be had.

I claim as my invention 1. A dam construction comprising a body or bedof short wire laid withthewires parallel with the stream, combined withabacking or abutment of masonrydir'ectlybehind said wire bed,substantially. as described.

2. A dam construction comprising a body or bed formed of anumber ofbundles'of short wire piled closely together, said bundles'lyingparallel with the stream, combined with a backing or abutment of masonrydirectly behind said wire bed, and a covering of earth or cement orother suitable material imposed on said wire bed, substantially asdescribed.

3. A dam construction comprising a body of the dam having a gradualslope from the or bed formed ofanumber of bundles of short top of themasonry to the base of the dam, 10 wire piled closely together, saidbundles lying substantially as described. parallel with the stream,combined with a 1 5 backing or abutment of masonry directly be- JOSEPHGLIDDEN' hind said wire bed, and a covering of earth Witnesses: orcement or other suitable material imposed FRANK M. MUNGER, on said wirebed, the pressure-resisting face JOHN M. HALLSTINE.

